Limbic System/Hypothalamus (2) Flashcards
The function of the limbic system is what?
to reconcile higher level information (from association cerebral cortex) with more basic drives (from subcortical structures) to learn from past experiences, make immediate choices and formulate long term plans
what is the function of the limbic association cortex?
conveys highly processed sensory information which is further processed by the hippocampus (in encoding sensory impressions into long-term memory) and the amygdala (to link sensory information with emotional responses)
what is in the prefrontal cortex? Where does it project? Where does input come from?
areas of frontal lobe not contained in motor or premotor cortex; striatum; somatosensory cerebral cortex, the dorsomedial and anterior nuclei of the thalamus, and the ventral tegmental area (VTA).
What is the function of the dorsolateral frontal cortex? Damage here can cause what?
Important in attention, abstract thought and planning (executive function); reduced abilities to organize information and shift strategies in a changing environment.
What is the function of the ventraomedial frontal cortex and orbitofrontal cortex? Damage here can cause what?
inhibition of inappropriate behavior; disinhibition - impulsiveness and disregard for others
The cingulate gyrus receives input from where? Projects to where?
sensory cortex, prefrontral cortex, the thalamus (anterior nucleus and nociceptive cells); entorhinal cortex
What is the function of the cingulate gyrus? Damage here can cause what?
cingulate cortex is though to mediate the emotional correlates of pain (sadness)
anterior cingulate cortex- thought to play an esp. important role in learning (error detection and reward-based decision making); memory disorders
Hippocampal formation includes what? Receives dopaminergic input
from where?
subiculum (transition cortex, layers 3-6), dentate gyrus (archicortex, layers 1-3) and hippocampus proper (archicortex, layers 1-3); ventral tegmental area
The cingulum carries input from where to where?
cingulate gyrus to entorhinal cortex and orbitalfrontal gyri to parahippocampal gyrus
The perforant pathway conveys information from where to where?
pyramidal neurons in layer II of the
entorhinal cortex to the dentate gyrus and CA3 of the hippocampus proper
The alveal pathway conveys information from where to where?
neurons of layer III of the entorhinal cortex to
CA1 the hippocampus
The hippocampus proper can be further subdivided into what four regions?
CA1- closest to the subiculum, CA2, CA3, CA4- closest to the dentate gyrus
Cholingergic neurons in the septal nuclei project to where? The hippocampus proper projects to where via what?
hippocampal formation; septal area via precommissural fibers of the fornix
Granule cells of the dentate gyrus projects to where via what?
CA3 of the hippocampus proper via mossy
fibers
CA3 neurons of the hippocampus proper project to where via what?
CA1 neurons via Schaefer collaterals
CA1 neurons of the hippocampus proper project to where?
subiculum
The subiculum projects to where via what?
mamillary bodies via the columns of the fornix; entorhinal cortex.
What is long term potentiation?
High frequency sequence of stimulutions of the perforant pathway, massy fiber pathway or Schaffer collaterals can result in long lasting enchancement of excitatory potentials in the hippocampal neurons
LTP is thought to involve what?
an increase in calcium influx through NMDA receptors; calcium activation of calmodulin and the cognitive kinases; retrograde messenger, perhaps nitric oxide (NO) or cell adhesion proteins, acts on the presynaptic neuron
LTP and the cognitive kinases (in both the presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons) are thought to enable what?
learning and memory by enhancing synaptic transmission between neurons for relatively long periods of time
What are the cognitive kinases in LTP?
calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMK), protein kinase A (PKA), protein kinase Cs (PKCs) and tyrosine kinases
What is long term depression?
Weakening of synapses due to postsynaptic receptor density, Weakening of synapses due to postsynaptic receptor density, may be involved in forgetting or negative feedback that regulates LTP.
The fornix consists of axons related to What two structures?
hippocampus proper and subiculum
Axons of the fornix initially form what? this coalesces into what?
alveus (white matter covering hippocampal formation), fimbria (where the axons collect before leaving the hippocampal formation),
Axons which originate in the hippocampus proper leave the body of the fornix at the level of what? Where do they terminate?
AC, travel dorsal to the AC, septal area as the
precommissural fornix
Axons which originate in the subiculum leave the body of the fornix at the level of what? Terminate where?
AC, travel ventral and descend in the columns of the fornix into the diencephalon to the mammillary nuclei